Inductor device and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

An inductor device includes an 8-shaped inductor and a ring-type wire. The ring-type wire is disposed around an outer side of the 8-shaped inductor. The 8-shaped inductor includes an input terminal and a center-tapped terminal. The input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor is located on a first side of the inductor device, and the center-tapped terminal is located on a second side of the inductor device. The ring-type wire includes an input terminal and a ground terminal. The input terminal of the ring-type wire is located on the first side of the inductor device, and the ground terminal is located on the second side of the inductor device. The input terminal of the ring-type wire is coupled to the input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number107146550, filed Dec. 21, 2018, which is herein incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND Field of Invention

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method.More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an inductor deviceand a control method thereof.

Description of Related Art

In a direct-up transmitter, if the frequency of the voltage controlledoscillator (VCO) is selected as the same frequency as the even harmonicsof the power amplifier (PA), the voltage controlled oscillator ispossibly pulled by the power amplifier. As a result, the communicationquality becomes deteriorated.

The situations in which the voltage controlled oscillator is affected bythe power amplifier are classified into: “coupling between the inductorof the power amplifier and the inductor of the voltage controlledoscillator” and “coupling between the power line of the power amplifierand the power line of the voltage controlled oscillator”. If the aboveproblem is intended to be resolved, the frequency of the voltagecontrolled oscillator can be configured at non-integer multiple of theharmonic frequencies of the power amplifier. However, this configurationneeds additional elements/components. Not only the space of the overalldevice is occupied, but some other interferences are also likely to becaused. In addition to that, if an algorithm is used to performcalibration, the algorithm is difficult to implement because there arenumerous paths in which the voltage controlled oscillator may beaffected by the power amplifier.

For the foregoing reasons, there is a need to solve the above-mentionedproblems by providing an inductor device and a control method thereof.

SUMMARY

The foregoing presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in orderto provide a basic understanding to the reader. This summary is not anextensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identifykey/critical elements of the present disclosure or delineate the scopeof the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some conceptsdisclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

One objective of the present disclosure is to provide an inductor deviceand a control method thereof so as to resolve the problems of the priorart. The means of solution are described as follows.

One aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an inductor device.The inductor device comprises an 8-shaped inductor and a ring-type wire.The ring-type wire is disposed around an outer side of the 8-shapedinductor. The 8-shaped inductor comprises an input terminal and acenter-tapped terminal. The input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor islocated on a first side of the inductor device. The center-tappedterminal is located on a second side of the inductor device. Thering-type wire comprises an input terminal and a ground terminal. Theinput terminal of the ring-type wire is located on the first side of theinductor device. The ground terminal is located on the second side ofthe inductor device. The input terminal of the ring-type wire is coupledto the input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide control method ofan inductor. The inductor device comprises an 8-shaped inductor and aring-type wire. The ring-type wire is disposed around an outer side ofthe 8-shaped inductor. Both an input terminal of the 8-shaped inductorand an input terminal of the ring-type wire are located on a first sideof the inductor device, and both a center-tapped terminal of the8-shaped inductor and a ground terminal of the ring-type wire arelocated on a second side of the inductor device. The control methodcomprises: an interference signal forming currents respectively in the8-shaped inductor and the ring-type wire when the interference signal isfed from the center-tapped terminal, wherein the current in the 8-shapedinductor has an opposite direction to the current in the ring-type wire.

Therefore, based on the technical content of the present disclosure, theinductor device and the control method thereof according to theembodiments of the present disclosure can change the inductor structurein a limited space. As a result, the coupling between the voltagecontrolled oscillator and the power amplifier can be effectivelyreduced.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are by examples, and are intended toprovide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of an inductor device according toone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of operations of an inductor deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic diagram of operations of an inductor deviceaccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic diagram of operations of an inductor deviceaccording to still another embodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic diagram of a flow of a control method of aninductor device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;and

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic diagram of experimental data of an inductordevice according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

According to the usual mode of operation, various features and elementsin the figures have not been drawn to scale, which are drawn to the bestway to present specific features and elements related to the disclosure.In addition, among the different figures, the same or similar elementsymbols refer to similar elements/components.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To make the contents of the present disclosure more thorough andcomplete, the following illustrative description is given with regard tothe implementation aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure,which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Thefeatures of the embodiments and the steps of the method and theirsequences that constitute and implement the embodiments are described.However, other embodiments may be used to achieve the same or equivalentfunctions and step sequences.

Unless otherwise defined herein, scientific and technical terminologiesemployed in the present disclosure shall have the meanings that arecommonly understood and used by one of ordinary skill in the art. Unlessotherwise required by context, it will be understood that singular termsshall include plural forms of the same and plural terms shall includethe singular. Specifically, as used herein and in the claims, thesingular forms “a” and “an” include the plural reference unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise.

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of an inductor device 100 accordingto one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, theinductor device 100 includes an 8-shaped inductor 110 and a ring-typewire 120. In addition, the 8-shaped inductor 110 includes an inputterminal 111 and a center-tapped terminal 113. The ring-type wire 120includes an input terminal 121 and a ground terminal 123. A crossing ina middle of the 8-shaped inductor 110 can be implemented by using abridging structure. However, the present disclosure is not limited inthis regard.

As for the structure, the ring-type wire 120 is disposed around an outerside of the 8-shaped inductor 110. However, the present disclosure isnot limited to the shape of the ring-type wire 120 depicted in FIG. 1 ,which is only used to depict one of the implementation methods by takingan example. In other implementation methods, the shape of the ring-typewire 120 may be disposed closely adjacent to the 8-shaped inductor 110so as to present a shape similar to a gourd. Or, the ring-type wire 120may be disposed in any other suitable shape depending on practicalneeds. It is noted that the 8-shaped inductor 110 and the ring-type wire120 may be disposed on a same metal layer. However, the 8-shapedinductor 110 and the ring-type wire 120 may be disposed on differentmetal layers depending on needs.

With additional reference to FIG. 1 , both the center-tapped terminal113 of the 8-shaped inductor 110 and the ground terminal 123 of thering-type wire 120 are located on one side (such as an upper side of thefigure) of the inductor device 100. In addition, both the input terminal111 of the 8-shaped inductor 110 and the input terminal 121 of thering-type wire 120 are located on another side (such as a lower side ofthe figure) of the inductor device 100.

In one embodiment, the input terminal 121 of the ring-type wire 120 iscoupled to the input terminal 111 of the 8-shaped inductor 110. Forexample, a description is provided with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2depicts a schematic diagram of operations of the inductor device 100according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, which is used toillustrate a differential mode signal of the inductor device 100. Byusing an operating current (not shown in the figure) to control avoltage controlled oscillator 600, an oscillating signal generated bythe voltage controlled oscillator 600 is fed from the input terminal 111of the 8-shaped inductor 110, and a surrounding current Is is formed inthe 8-shaped inductor 110. The oscillating signal is a full waverectified signal. FIG. 2 shows a direction of the oscillating signal ofthe surrounding current Is during an upper half period.

With additional reference to FIG. 2 , since a current flowing into anode of the input terminal 111 is equal to a current flowing out of thenode of the input terminal 111, the above surrounding current Is onlyflows around the 8-shaped inductor 110 and does not flow in thering-type wire 120. Based on the flowing direction of the surroundingcurrent Is, a magnetic field directed out a drawing plane is formed atan upper portion of the 8-shaped inductor 110 and a magnetic fielddirected into the drawing plane is formed at a lower portion of the8-shaped inductor 110, and the magnetic fields of the two were canceledeach other. As a result, there is no induced eddy current formed in thering-type wire 120, so that the quality factor (Q) of the 8-shapedinductor 110 itself is not lowered. In other embodiments, the inputterminal 111 of the 8-shaped inductor 110 includes a first terminal anda second terminal. The surrounding current Is may be fed from the firstterminal on a left side of the figure, and flows around the 8-shapedinductor 110, and then flows out from the second terminal on a rightside of the figure.

In one embodiment, a distance between the 8-shaped inductor 110 and thering-type wire 120 is less than about 1 to 5 times a line width of the8-shaped inductor 110. However, the present disclosure is not limited inthis regard, and the above distance may be configured to be anappropriate multiple of the line width of the inductor depending onpractical needs.

In other embodiments, the input terminal 121 of the ring-type wire 120is coupled to the input terminal 111 of the 8-shaped inductor 110. Forexample, a description is provided with reference to FIG. 3 . FIG. 3depicts a schematic diagram of operations of the inductor device 100according to another embodiment of the present disclosure, which is usedto illustrate a common mode signal of the inductor device 100. The inputterminal 121 of the ring-type wire 120 is coupled to the input terminal111 of the 8-shaped inductor 110. At this time, when an interferencesignal In is fed from the center-tapped terminal 113, the interferencesignal In forms currents respectively in the 8-shaped inductor 110 andthe ring-type wire 120. The interference signal In may enter the8-shaped inductor 110 by coupling from a power amplifier (not shown inthe figure). As shown in FIG. 3 , the current of the interference signalIn in the 8-shaped inductor 110 has an opposite direction to the currentof the interference signal In in the ring-type wire 120. In oneembodiment, the above interference signal In includes a noise current(Inoise), but the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

With additional reference to FIG. 3 , the interference signal In forms afirst current I1 and a second current I2 on two opposite sides of the8-shaped inductor 110. As shown in the figure, both the first current I1and the second current I2 flow from a second side (such as an upper sideof the figure) to a first side (such as a lower side of the figure) ofthe inductor device 100. The first current I1 and the second current I2converge into a convergent current Ic at the input terminal 111 of the8-shaped inductor 110. After that, the convergent current Ic is fed fromthe input terminal 121 of the ring-type wire 120, and forms a thirdcurrent I3 and a fourth current I4 on two opposite sides of thering-type wire 120, and both the third current I3 and the fourth currentI4 flow from the first side (such as the lower side of the figure) tothe ground terminal 123 located on the second side (such as the upperside of the figure) of the inductor device 100. It is thus understoodthat the currents I1, I2 in the 8-shaped inductor 110 flow from thesecond side to the first side of the inductor device 100, and thecurrents I3, I4 in the ring-type wire 120 flow from the second side tothe first side of the inductor device 100. As a result, the currents inthe 8-shaped inductor 110 have an opposite direction to the currents inthe ring-type wire 120 so that magnetic fields induced by the currentsof the 8-shaped inductor 110 and magnetic fields induced by the currentsof the ring-type wire 120 were canceled each other.

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic diagram of operations of the inductor device100 according to still another embodiment. As shown in the figure, thepresent disclosure adopts the 8-shaped inductor 110. Since the 8-shapedinductor 110 has the characteristic of cancelling out the magneticfields, isolation between the power amplifier (not shown in the figure)and the voltage controlled oscillator 600 can be additionally improvedas compared with a symmetrical inductor. Coupling of a power line of thepower amplifier to a power line of the voltage controlled oscillator 600is a common mode signal for the voltage controlled oscillator 600. Asignal of the power amplifier is a signal carrying modulation data.Therefore, if the voltage controlled oscillator 600 operates atfrequencies of even harmonics of the power amplifier, a modulationsignal is a common mode interference signal In for the voltagecontrolled oscillator 600.

With additional reference to FIG. 4 , the voltage controlled oscillator600 includes cross-coupled transistors T1, T2 and a capacitor accordingto the present embodiment. The transistors T1, T2 may be N-type metaloxide semiconductor field effect transistors (NMOS FETs), P-type metaloxide semiconductor field effect transistors (PMOS FETs), orcomplementary metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (CMOSFETs). However, the present disclosure is not limited in this regard. Inone embodiment, the transistor T1 includes a first terminal, a firstcontrol terminal, and a second terminal. The first terminal of thetransistor T1 is coupled to the input terminal 111 of the 8-shapedinductor 110, the second terminal of the transistor T1 is coupled to theinput terminal 121 of the ring-type wire 120. The transistor T2 includesa third terminal, a second control terminal, and a fourth terminal. Thethird terminal of the transistor T2 is coupled to the input terminal 111of the 8-shaped inductor 110 and the first control terminal of thetransistor T1, the second control terminal of the transistor T2 iscoupled to the first terminal of the transistor T1, and the fourthterminal of the transistor T2 is coupled to the input terminal 121 ofthe ring-type wire 120. The capacitor is coupled between the firstterminal of the transistor T1 and the third terminal of the transistorT2.

When the transistors T1, T2 are simultaneously turned on and a waveformof the voltage controlled oscillator 600 passes a zero-crossing point,it is the time when the voltage controlled oscillator 600 is mostsusceptible to noise interference. The present disclosure adopts thesingle-turn 8-shaped inductor 110, and the single-turn 8-shaped inductor110 is surrounded by the ring-type wire 120 that is a flow path of thecommon mode signal. As a result, a common mode inductance value can beeffectively reduced to L(1−m), and m is a coupling coefficient of theinductor. When the waveform of the voltage controlled oscillator 600 isclose to the zero-crossing point, it is also the state that the voltagecontrolled oscillator 600 is most easily interfered with by the commonmode signal. At this time, the transistors T1, T2 are simultaneouslyturned on, and the common mode interference signal In is equally dividedinto two paths and flows back to the ground terminal 123. In thismanner, the common mode inductance value can be reduced to L(1−m) suchthat the degree to which the voltage controlled oscillator 600 issubjected to the pulling of the power amplifier is improved.

FIG. 5 depicts a schematic diagram of a flow of a control method 500 ofan inductor device according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in the figure, the control method 500 of theinductor device includes the steps as follows.

Step 510: An interference signal forms currents respectively in an8-shaped inductor and a ring-type wire when the interference signal isfed from a center-tapped terminal, wherein the current in the 8-shapedinductor has an opposite direction to the current in the ring-type wire.

Step 520: An oscillating signal forms a surrounding current in the8-shaped inductor when the oscillating signal is fed from an inputterminal of the 8-shaped inductor.

In order to facilitate understanding of the control method 500 of theinductor device, a description is provided with reference to FIG. 2 ,FIG. 3 , and FIG. 5 . In step 510, when the interference signal In isfed from the center-tapped terminal 113, the interference signal Informs the currents respectively in the 8-shaped inductor 110 and thering-type wire 120, and the current in the 8-shaped inductor 110 has anopposite direction to the current in the ring-type wire 120. In oneembodiment, the above interference signal In includes the noise current(Inoise), but the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In step 520, the oscillating signal forms the surrounding current Is inthe 8-shaped inductor 110 when the oscillating signal of the voltagecontrolled oscillator 600 is fed from the input terminal 111 of the8-shaped inductor 110.

In one embodiment, the step of forming the currents respectively in the8-shaped inductor 110 and the ring-type wire 120 based on theinterference signal In includes: forming the first current I1 and thesecond current I2 on two opposite sides of the 8-shaped inductor 110based on the interference signal In, in which both the first current I1and the second current I2 flow from a second side to a first side of theinductor device 100; and the first current I1 and the second current I2converge into the convergent current Ic at the input terminal 111 of the8-shaped inductor 110.

In one embodiment, the step of forming the currents respectively in the8-shaped inductor 110 and the ring-type wire 120 based on theinterference signal In includes: forming the third current I3 and thefourth current I4 on two opposite sides of the ring-type wire 120 basedon the convergent current Ic, in which both the third current I3 and thefourth current I4 flow from the first side to the second side of theinductor device 100.

In one embodiment, the surrounding current Is only flows around the8-shaped inductor 110. In another embodiment, the input terminal 111 ofthe 8-shaped inductor 110 includes a first terminal and a secondterminal. The surrounding current Is is fed from the first terminal andflows around the 8-shaped inductor 110, and flows out from the secondterminal. In other embodiments, the above interference signal In is acommon mode signal. The oscillating signal is a differential modesignal.

FIG. 6 depicts a schematic diagram of experimental data of the inductordevice 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in the figure, when the voltage controlled oscillator 600 is notinterfered, the experimental curve is C1. Take the frequency of 100.0kHz as an example, the phase noise is −90.39 dBc/Hz. When a highfrequency noise is fed into the inductor device 100 that does not havethe ring-type wire 120 of the present disclosure, the experimental curveis C3. Similarly, take the frequency of 100.0 kHz as an example, thephase noise is increased to −71.3 dBc/Hz. However, once the inductordevice 100 that has the ring-type wire 120 of the present disclosure isused, the experimental curve is C2. Similarly, take the frequency of100.0 kHz as an example, the phase noise is reduced to −86.07 dBc/Hz. Itis thus understood that using the inductor device 100 that has thering-type wire 120 of the present disclosure actually can effectivelyreduce the interference with the voltage controlled oscillator 600.

It can be understood from the embodiments of the present disclosure thatapplication of the present disclosure has the following advantages. Theinductor device and the control method thereof according to theembodiments of the present disclosure can change the inductor structurein a limited space. As a result, the coupling between the voltagecontrolled oscillator and the power amplifier can be effectivelyreduced.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments arepossible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims shouldnot be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An inductor device, comprising: an 8-shapedinductor, comprising: an input terminal located on a first side of theinductor device; and a center-tapped terminal located on a second sideof the inductor device; and a ring-type wire disposed around an outerside of the 8-shaped inductor, wherein the ring-type wire comprises: aninput terminal located on the first side of the inductor device; and aground terminal located on the second side of the inductor device;wherein the input terminal of the ring-type wire is coupled to the inputterminal of the 8-shaped inductor through an oscillator.
 2. The inductordevice of claim 1, wherein when an interference signal is fed from thecenter-tapped terminal, the interference signal forms currentsrespectively in the 8-shaped inductor and the ring-type wire, whereinthe current in the 8-shaped inductor has an opposite direction to thecurrent in the ring-type wire.
 3. The inductor device of claim 2,wherein the interference signal forms a first current and a secondcurrent on two opposite sides of the 8-shaped inductor, wherein both thefirst current and the second current flow from the second side to thefirst side of the inductor device, and the first current and the secondcurrent converge into a convergent current at the input terminal of the8-shaped inductor.
 4. The inductor device of claim 3, wherein theconvergent current is fed from the input terminal of the ring-type wire,and forms a third current and a fourth current on two opposite sides ofthe ring-type wire, and both the third current and the fourth currentflow from the first side to the second side of the inductor device. 5.The inductor device of claim 2, wherein when an oscillating signal isfed from the input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor, the oscillatingsignal forms a surrounding current in the 8-shaped inductor.
 6. Theinductor device of claim 5, wherein the surrounding current only flowsaround the 8-shaped inductor.
 7. The inductor device of claim 6, whereinthe input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor comprises a first terminaland a second terminal, the surrounding current is fed from the firstterminal and flows around the 8-shaped inductor, and flows out from thesecond terminal of the input terminal.
 8. The inductor device of claim1, wherein a distance between the 8-shaped inductor and the ring-typewire is less than 1 to 5 times a line width of the 8-shaped inductor. 9.The inductor device of claim 5, wherein the interference signal is acommon mode signal, and the oscillating signal is a differential modesignal.
 10. The inductor device of claim 1, wherein the 8-shapedinductor and the ring-type wire are disposed on a same metal layer, orthe 8-shaped inductor and the ring-type wire are disposed on differentmetal layers.
 11. The inductor device of claim 1, wherein the oscillatorcomprises: a first transistor comprising a first terminal, a firstcontrol terminal, and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal iscoupled to the input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor, and the secondterminal is coupled to the input terminal of the ring-type wire; asecond transistor comprising a third terminal, a second controlterminal, and a fourth terminal, wherein the third terminal is coupledto the input terminal of the 8-shaped inductor and the first controlterminal, the second control terminal is coupled to the first terminal,and the fourth terminal is coupled to the input terminal of thering-type wire; and a capacitor coupled between the first terminal ofthe first transistor and the third terminal of the second transistor.